The artwork “Sugar Bowl, Pears and Blue Cup” is a classic still life painting by Paul Cezanne dating back to circa 1866. Crafted using oil on canvas, this piece is representative of the Romanticism movement, despite Cezanne’s later association with Post-Impressionism. The genre of the artwork is still life, a common theme for Cezanne who had a profound impact on still lifes in art history. It is currently housed at the Musée Granet in Aix-en-Provence, France.
In the depiction, one can observe a sugar bowl at the center, capped with a lid and characterised by a white body with a distinctly blue and yellow accented pattern. Next to the sugar bowl is a striking blue cup with a visible handle, hinting at a sense of domesticity and everyday life. The composition also includes pears, rendered with loose, almost tactile brushstrokes that give the fruit a textured sensation, evoking their ripeness. The fruit, the sugar bowl, and the cup are all placed against a dark background, which enhances the rich colors and bold forms of the still life elements. Despite the Romanticist classification, Cezanne’s approach to form and structure here arguably foreshadows his later developments towards Post-Impressionism, where his work became known for its pioneering steps towards abstraction and the deconstruction of classical perspective.
